Pyongyang, Mike Pompeo meets Kim, who will free three US prisoners

Seoul: North Korea will free them today, a sign of "good will". The American visit follows Kim's second trip to China and prepares for the meeting with Trump. The Seoul-Tokyo-Beijing meeting in Japan is under way: peace and commercial cooperation.


Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - North Korea will free the three American citizens detained in the country today. The Seoul presidential office Cheong Wa Dae has announced: Pyongyang wants to show its "good will" in view of the upcoming summit between the North leader and US president Donald Trump.

There is great diplomatic ferment on the Korean peninsula: after the second secret trip by Kim Jong-un to Beijing, this morning the new American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, returned to Pyongyang. The senior American diplomat should return to Washington with the three prisoners and a final date for the summit between the US and North Korea.

Pompey's visit to the socialist country follows Kim Jong-un's second trip to China. As happened on the first occasion, in March, Chinese official media reported the North Korean leader's journey only after his return to North Korea. According to the CCTV, yesterday Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated their commitments to denuclearization of North Korea. The two were filmed by cameras as they walked along Banchuidao Beach, Dalian, in northeastern China.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in Tokyo today for a trilateral summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Shinzo Abe. On this occasion, Moon called for cooperation between the three countries both for peace on the peninsula and for the expansion of free trade in the region. During the day, the South Korean president will hold bilateral talks with the two Asian leaders.